alabama or louisiana, not so much. >> students were learning different things in florida, from what they were learning in new york city, from what they were learning in nebraska, and even what they were learning in each school in new york city. >> reporter: to clear up the confusion, some governors and state superintendents developed a common set of standards which states could choose to adopt or not. from the beginning, the obama administration pushed the states to adopt them. >> we laid out a few key criteria and said, "if you meet these tests, we'll reward you by helping you reform your schools." >> reporter: the reward was significant: hundreds of millions of dollars to states that pledged to do what washington wanted. states competed for a share of the $4.35 billion in what washington calls "race to the top." >> governor were nervous. ( laughs ) >> reporter: 46 states and the district of columbia presented ambitious plans. >> oh, we believe louisiana is one of the top candidates for this. i mean, we have such exciting reform going on. >> reporter: only a handful of states have actua